


Fever

by DestroyedConscience



Series: Touch [3]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Adopted Sibling Relationship, Allison is the only one with a brain everyone else is an IDIOT, Alternate Universe - No Sparrow Academy, Angst, Brotherly Love, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Drug Addiction, Klaus Hargreeves Has Telekinesis, Klaus Hargreeves Whump, Klaus Hargreeves-centric, Platonic Cuddling, Post-Season/Series 02, Powerful Klaus Hargreeves, Protective Diego Hargreeves, References to Non-Consensual Possession, Sick Klaus Hargreeves, Soft Diego Hargreeves, references to past consent issues, the Hargreeves are trying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-25
Updated: 2020-09-14
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:34:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,687
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26099485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DestroyedConscience/pseuds/DestroyedConscience
Summary: With the apocalypse averted, the remaining members of the Hargreeves family decide to stick close to each other and stay in the mansion. Whether this be because they want to track the progression of Vanya and Klaus’ powers or that they just want to be near each other, after everything that has happened, they will never tell.They are only back for a week when Klaus gets sick.
Relationships: Diego Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves, Number Five | The Boy & Klaus Hargreeves
Series: Touch [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1881559
Comments: 29
Kudos: 480





	1. A Sneeze

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> obligatory sickfic :p i say that but i’ve never written an actual sickfic before lol, i hope i did alright o_o it ended up, um, a little bit longer than anticipated, kinda ran away from me lol. just know it was meant to be one chapter, not two.
> 
> *screams in Not Able To Write Five* pls forgive me,,

It starts with a sneeze.

Well, Klaus had been moping around the house for two days before said sneeze took place, seeming to make it his mission to torment his siblings with his dramatics. He sniffled and groaned in nasally tones, dragging his feet into the living room before chucking himself haphazardly onto either of the couches no matter if they were occupied or not. He complained about his head hurting until Five tried to smother him with a couch cushion and almost succeeded. He took every opportunity to splay himself dramatically against Diego or Luther, falling against their wider frames almost every time he saw them, not moving from his place against them until they physically made him. It was all unbelievably annoying.

Then the sneeze happened.

They’re all in the living room, taking part in a “family night” that Allison forced everybody to take part in via Luther’s assistance (which was pretty much just using his huge frame to block people from leaving). Family nights consist of a few different things, such as board games or watching movies on the tv they had installed. Tonight, it was the former. Allison, Vanya, Diego and Luther are sitting around the coffee table, a Monopoly board placed upon it. Well, Luther is sitting on one of the couches, his large frame unable to squeeze in with the other three who sit on the floor. Allison moves his character for him as his hands are too big and just displace everything else on the board when he tries himself. Five is sat beside the bigger man, notepad in his lap that he scribbles in, hunched over himself. He’s not taking part in the game but he’s not holed up in his room either so his siblings take it as a win.

Klaus, however, curls himself up in the corner of the other couch. He’s uncharacteristically quiet, especially in comparison to the past two days, only speaking to answer a question aimed at him. The others are, of course, concerned but he waves them off and they eventually go back to their game which is becoming more and more tense by the second. Diego does not seem to like the fact Vanya is better than him at Monopoly.

It’s then, during a lull in conversation, that a quiet “achoo” rings out and causes the room to descend into immediate chaos. 

Books fling themselves off the shelves near the ends of the room, sailing through the air and hitting the walls opposite with a series of loud bangs. The lights above them explode and the small chandeliers come crashing to the floor, everyone in the room scrabbling for cover from the glass raining down - except for Klaus, the glass bouncing off of what seems to be an invisible barrier. There’s a series of smashes from the direction of the bar. Anything that isn’t nailed to the floor shakes and rattles but luckily doesn’t fall over.

Everything happens in the blink of an eye, over as fast as it started and Klaus sniffles from his place on the couch, looking paler and smaller than usual among the wreckage of the room. He glances to his siblings, who have taken cover in various places in the room, probably using the ghosts to his advantage to find their hiding spots - just like he used to when they played hide and seek as children. They’re all tense, wide eyes glancing between him and the mess he has made. He sniffles again. 

“Sorry.” He says as they edge out from their cover and come closer to him, shoes crunching in glass. “Didn’... Didn’t mean t’ do tha’...”

“The hell was that all about?” Five asks and Klaus looks at him through heavy-lidded eyes, taking a second too long to register the words. The concern on his siblings’ faces increases.

“Think ‘m sick, sorry.”

Allison steps closer to him in an instant, sitting on the edge of the couch with only a little bit of caution. “It’s okay, Klaus.” She says as she raises a hand to his forehead. 

“Yeah, man.” Diego pipes up, sending a pointed glare towards Five before he looks at Klaus, gaze as focused as it always is when something’s wrong with the fourth Hargreeves, like tunnel-vision. “You didn’t mean it.” It looks like the others are about to say their own pieces but Allison turns to them with wide, worried eyes. 

“He’s burning up, like, really bad.”

“How? He was fine just before he sneezed.” Vanya says with a furrowed brow as Five jumps to the front of the group to replace Allison’s hand with his own. Klaus scrunches his eyes shut against the flash with a groan, Five muttering out a distracted apology. He only has his hand against the other’s forehead for a moment before he’s pulling back with a curse. 

He looks at the others, “Get him to the infirmary and get Mom. He needs to be put under before he blows up the house.” Klaus lets out a whine from his place on the couch, sloppily shaking his head as though it were too heavy for his body and managing to only _slightly_ grimace at the pain it causes his already aching head.

“Don’ give me drugs,” His tone is warning despite the slur of his voice, “Tha’s not… A good idea.” 

Diego levels Five with another glare, too. “What the fuck, man? You want to _drug him up_ because you’re scared of what might happen?” 

“I don’t want this house coming down on our heads because of a _sneeze_ , Diego! What happens next time, huh? You could barely hear this one, what if the next is louder? The ceiling could end up on top of us!”

“He’s our brother, he’s-he’s _Klaus_ ! He’s not gonna _hurt us_ \-- Are you hearing yourself right now, old man?”

“Ah, yes, because I have _such_ good reason to believe he’s incapable of hurting us after everything that’s happened! Vanya’s neck still has bruises from when he lashed out! Your ex ended up skewered on a piece of wood because he doesn’t have a good enough grip on his abilities yet!”

“That wasn’t his fault, you asshole!” Diego has gotten up in the smaller man’s space at this point, towering over him but Five meets his stare head on, as always. Luther places a hand on each guy’s shoulder to nudge them apart, firm enough to make them comply but soft enough that they don’t stagger, but their gazes don’t break. Allison has placed a hand on the armrest of the couch, so her arm crosses over Klaus’ body like a barricade while Vanya sits down next to her as she watches the argument unfold. At it being mentioned, a hand has come up to subconsciously cover the bruising of her neck and hasn’t fallen back to her lap yet. Klaus watches the argument through narrow eyes, obviously irritated but at the moment unable to make his mouth move.

“I know it wasn’t his fault!” Five sounds offended that Diego would believe he thought otherwise, “But that doesn’t diminish the risk of it happening again! He’s obviously got a fever and with how he’s acting right now he might have influenza, of all things! What happens if he hallucinates? If he thinks there’s a threat and he lets his power loose?” He gestures around the room, “If him sneezing does this much damage, how much do you wanna bet a coughing fit will do?”

Diego glowers, jaw working. “He doesn’t _want_ the drugs, Five. You’re not _forcing_ him to break his sobriety, I’ll put a knife in you before you get the chance.”

Five’s face twitches and he raises an eyebrow with a smirk, although it’s impossible to decipher what emotion is behind it. “Are your priorities really so skewed that you’d hurt me simply because I want to keep us _all_ safe, Diego? You’d do that?”

“ _To protect Klaus, yes!_ ” Diego’s answer is instantaneous, Five huffs a laugh through his nose and shakes his head to himself. The tension in the room rises but Diego doesn’t notice. 

In his mind’s eye he thinks of Klaus lashing out at Vanya but being the first to follow her out when nobody else wanted to. He thinks of Lila bleeding beneath his hands after being tossed by Klaus and how he stammered out apologies then tried to see if he could summon her for him after. He thinks of Klaus, in the bathroom cutting his hair for him because he didn’t know how. He thinks of Mom, and how when they suspected something to be wrong they considered turning her off and tossing her out. He thinks of how _he_ turned her off.

Klaus and Mom have always gone hand-in-hand in Diego’s heart, both sparking his protective streak without even trying, both often overlooked by everybody but him. He has failed them both many a time but he doesn’t intend on it happening ever again. 

“I’d do it in a _fucking heartbeat_.” He emphasises the words by reaching a hand around Luther, who still stands in between them, to jab Five in the chest. 

It’s Allison’s voice, irritated and dry, that stops Five from retorting and causes both their heads to turn. “Yeah, I don’t think any drugs _or_ stabbing will be necessary.”

Klaus is slumped against her, face slack and body limp. Allison’s arm has moved from its position in front of him to wrap around bony shoulders to stop him from sliding down. Five and Diego swear at the same time in different tones - one of irritation and the other of concern. Allison doesn’t pay them any attention, obviously annoyed at them for their arguing, and instead directs her gaze towards Luther.

“Can you carry him up to his room, please?” Luther nods quickly and Allison turns to Vanya as he carefully scoops their unconscious brother into his arms. “Go get Mom, please, Vee. Tell her what’s happening and to come to Klaus’ room.” Vanya responds with her own nod and hurries off. It’s only when the other three are gone, that she looks at Diego and Five, levelling them both with a hard glare.

Diego hardly spares her a glance, instead looking up where Luther had vanished off to. “I should go up there.” He mutters but Allison’s voice is like a whip.

“No. You’re going to stay right here. Both of you. Mom will tell Vanya and Luther what we need to know in order to help, then they will tell us and we will calmly discuss what to do from there _like adults._ No more arguing about a brother who is _right there in front of you and can hear every word you’re saying._ ” Her final words are enough to even make Five shift, although he doesn’t look so much ashamed as he does annoyed. Diego visibly cringes and works his jaw. Allison quirks an eyebrow at them both before continuing. “We will ask Klaus whether he wants to be put under when he is lucid enough to make the decision for himself. We are _not_ taking his right to choose away.”

Diego remembers Klaus in Elliot’s bedroom, telling him about Ben forcing his way in. Of how he was scared of Ben doing it in his sleep so he just agreed. How their brother had stripped Klaus of his choice in the matter and Klaus didn’t even think of it like that. He feels sick and can only nod quickly. He doesn’t want his brother to ever have his choice in _anything_ taken away ever again.

* * *

Around ten minutes after Allison’s mini-lecture, Mom comes down the stairs and gives him an encouraging smile. Five had jumped out five minutes prior but Diego doesn’t move from the living room just yet. He has busied himself with cleaning up the mess still littering the floor, brushing off Allison’s attempts to help. He had been left alone quickly enough and he liked it, the quiet coupled with the methodical movements of cleaning up helping to calm down his frayed nerves from everything that had happened. Mom tries to offer her help but he brushes her off as gently as possible, she seems to understand and leaves after running a delicate hand through his hair that he leans into.

It’s twenty minutes after Mom’s appearance that Diego finds himself standing outside of Klaus’ room. It’s quiet, no movement being heard from within, he can’t even hear Klaus _breathing_. When he pushes the door open, he’s surprised to see two people, instead of one. 

Five is sat on the floor next to the bed where Klaus lays, still sleeping, his back leant up against the side so he is facing the bookcase. He must have stolen one of the books from it, it doesn’t look like something he would normally read but he reads it nonetheless. He doesn’t look up as Diego leans against the doorframe, muscles bulging when he crosses his arms over his chest.

“Didn’t take you to be into the whole ‘supernatural’ genre.”

Five still doesn’t look up. “Figured it wouldn’t be a good time to brainstorm or plan anything right now, I’d rather not be distracted should Klaus wake up.”

Diego is about to open his mouth to respond but it seems Five may have to look into the possibility of ‘manifestation’ as a third ability because Klaus stirs only moments later and looks around the room blearily, his blinking slowed and eyes unfocused, not really taking anything in. Five looks up from his book for the first time since Diego has entered the room, turning himself so he’s instead upright on his knees and in Klaus’ frame of view, expression blank as his eyes roam over their brother’s face, no doubt trying to find a trace of lucidity. It’s easy to tell when he finds none, slumping a little bit against the bed but straightening again when Klaus’ eyes land on him and stay there. 

“Go back to sleep, Klaus.” He says softly. Klaus blinks at him, a look in his eyes that neither of the men in the room can decipher. 

“Ben?” A too-hot hand is placed on Five’s cheek, who looks stunned. “You’re back?”

Five’s throat works before he puts on a tight smile, reaching up to cover the hand with his own and gently place it back down on the bed. “Yeah. Go back to sleep, I’ll be here when you wake up, okay?” 

“‘m sorry.” Klaus whimpers out but neither of the men there knows what he’s apologising for. He’s asleep again before either can ask.

Diego stares at both of his brothers, one sleeping and the other desperately trying to process what has just happened. He scoffs, “What was that you said about him hallucinating, again?” Five doesn’t answer, unmoving from his spot and unable to tear his gaze away from Klaus. Diego wants to say more but Five looks so torn he can’t make himself do so.

Five still hasn’t moved when he leaves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's gotta hurt before the comfort sorry <3
> 
> five has the best of intentions but the worst execution and diego is kinda just a complete mess. neither are in the complete right _or_ wrong here and they both have some stuff to work on. five with his empathy, diego with his saviour-complex when it comes to klaus, and they _both_ shouldn’t have argued about klaus as if he wasn’t right there. Dysfunctional Hargreeves are dysfunctional. 
> 
> also yes klaus does in fact have influenza/the flu like five assumed but i took some Creative Liberties with it n it's not entirely accurate whoops--
> 
> i'm now more familiar with the academy’s set than i am with the layout of my own home. you have no idea how often i’ve had to look up that goddamn living room just for accuracy purposes. i didn’t even know they had 2 mini chandeliers in there until a few days ago. also i was just trying to figure out the layout of klaus’ room and ended up distracted by the wall writing holy shit some of that stuff is really heavy-- our boy has a lot going on huh,,, Forge His Soul In The Fire, you heard the man
> 
> kudos + comments always appreciated! <3


	2. An Evening Cuddle-Chat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me: i love writing for this fandom! i can’t wait to keep writing daily it feels great! :)  
> school: *pummelling me in the face* you idiot, absolute buffoon, stupid child, complete and utter nincompoop 
> 
> anyways… sorry for the delay! not only has school restarted and is kicking my BUTT, i also got kinda sidetracked with another work for this series lol. if you’d like a hint as to what it may be: it has something to do with the final few paragraphs :)
> 
> Unedited… so, so, SOOOO unedited if there’s like 500 errors/inconsistencies pls don’t kill me i beg

Klaus stays asleep for most of the day, after that. Five doesn’t leave his spot by his bed and Mom brings in a pillow at one point for him to sit on rather than the cold ground. Klaus’ room is chilly, Mom having insisted the room be kept at a low temperature to cool him down.

When Klaus finally stirs again, his gaze is clearer than it’s been since he passed out against Allison. He rejects the offer of the drugs when Five asks and, for some reason Klaus can’t fathom, the older man doesn’t push it and simply nods. He flashes out of the room shortly after and Klaus is alone.

He isn’t alone for long before the door is opening, Diego looking visibly relieved to see him awake and aware. 

“Hi,” Diego says, stepping into the room and closing the door behind him. He comes to a stop a foot from Klaus’ bed, eyes scanning him. “Saw Five was in his room again so I figured you were a bit more lucid.” Klaus hums in confirmation, reaching a hand up to rub at a heavy eyelid. 

“So?” He drags the word out. “What’d I miss when I was in my ‘natural relapse into the ecstasy of delirium’?” He says the words with an extravagant flourish and Diego both wants to snort and hit him upside the head because that was the dumbest thing he’s ever heard. But then the memory of his moment with Five comes to his mind and he’s sad, instead.

“You hallucinated,” He tells him and Klaus looks confused by the softness of his tone. “You thought…” Diego pauses as he tries to think of the best way to say it before deciding there probably wasn’t one. “You thought that Five was Ben. You thought he was back, I think you were gonna cry if you didn’t pass out again, like, ten seconds later.” Okay maybe the last sentence wasn’t necessary but the words spilled out of his mouth like vomit. Being encouraged (read: forced) to speak his mind for over a month has left him with even less of a filter.

His brother stares at him, unmoving for several moments. He’s looking at him in the way he sometimes did that would send shivers down he and their siblings’ spines, like he knows more than he should about you. It was a look that somehow managed to be both far-off and present at the same time which, he guesses, is true in a way. Klaus may seem to be fully here, where his physical body resides, but it probably isn’t a stretch to say his consciousness exists on another plane, too; he exists, simultaneously, with a realm other than their own coursing its way through him, intermingling with his own state of being. A doorway, open to the influence of what lays on one side of it just as much at the other. 

Diego wonders if he can still see the ghosts that no doubt follow them all like an entourage or if the fever has the same effect as the drugs.

The silence rings between them for what feels like a lifetime before Klaus lifts the blanket in an invitation that Diego hastily takes, climbing into the bed beside him, if only to have an excuse to tear Klaus’ gaze from his and get the piercing stare off of him. (It isn’t only because of that, he knows, but he’s going to pretend he doesn’t)

They slot together easily, bodies used to each other’s presence and knowing where to fit from muscle memory alone. All those years of Klaus crawling into his bed for refuge from the nightmares and ghosts that haunted him and Diego doing the same after being submerged in water for what felt like decades has given them plenty of practice that allows them to settle easily into the now-limited space. They’re both larger than they were the last time they did this but they manage just fine. Diego wraps his arm around the smaller man and pulls him close to him, the way he would when they were kids and he wanted to protect Klaus from things only he could see. Klaus curls his leg around his so his knee is in between both of Diego’s own, an arm slinging over his midsection just like he used to when Diego needed reminding that he was able to breathe now without fear of water filling his lungs. 

It feels nice, a strange sense of nostalgia and normalcy washing over him and from the way Klaus relaxes against him he must feel it too. His little brother rests his head against his chest, no doubt listening to the steady thrum of his heartbeat like he did when they were younger, and Diego can stroke a hand through his long curls thanks to the angle. Klaus’ hair is tangled from sweat, some of said tangles sticking to his skin but Diego doesn’t mind and absently works his fingers through them, gently undoing whatever knots he gets caught in.

Klaus tilts his head all the way back, so he’s staring at the wall behind him. He bends an arm backwards to trace fingers over the writing messily scribbled there, the drawings. They’re good, Diego muses, not for the first time. He wonders if Klaus kept up with drawing, maybe picked it up again to keep himself busy or entertained during his time alone in the 60s. He watches as Klaus traces eyelashes sketched by black markers with deft fingers, it’s strange to see them without jitters.

“Ugh, sick me is a little bitch. And _blind_ . God, how did I mistake _Five_ for _Ben_?!”

Diego pipes in helpfully. “To be fair, fevers can reduce your perception by, like, a lot.” He has no idea how fevers work but it sounds right.

“ _Still_ . One is in a preteen body and wears a school uniform 24/7. The other is in an adult body and wears fucking _leather_ 24/7, I’m still not over that, you know. He could have chosen _anything_ to wear but he decides on the most _emo get-up imaginable_ , my God.”

“Hey,” Diego says in mock-offence. “Leather isn’t that bad!” 

Klaus answers him with a snort and an eyeroll, pulling his head back to plonk it back to its previous place on his chest. The hand returns to his midsection, fiddling with the hem of his vest. “‘Course _you_ would say that, Mr. Leather Daddy.” He continues talking over his brother’s spluttering. “You look like you’re from a bondage magazine almost 24/7! These past few weeks have been the most I’ve seen you _without_ that damn harness and I’m pretty sure that’s just because you lost it in the 60s!”

Diego opens his mouth to retort that, that is _not_ why he isn’t wearing it anymore but closes it quickly upon realising it absolutely is. Instead, he jabs a finger into Klaus’ side and avoids the elbow that comes flying at him as his brother shrieks and jerks. There’s some clattering as things fall off the table in the corner of the room and Diego has to grab the blanket to stop it from flying away from them but, overall, not much happens in retaliation to Diego’s attack.

After Klaus stops dramatically moaning about the pain Diego inflicted upon him - at the threat of yet another bout of it - they settle down. They stay in their places, bodies intertwined and Diego’s arm is starting to go numb from being underneath Klaus’ weight but he doesn’t move it. The quiet is nice, not something they would get often, when together. Klaus always had something to ramble about and Diego always had a sarcastic reply for it but not now, surprisingly. Maybe it was just the nostalgia, making them both all mushy. It _must_ be making Diego mushy, seeing as after another few blissful minutes of quiet, he speaks up again, heart suddenly heavy and gut churning.

“I’m sorry I never looked for you.”

Klaus blinks, slow as though he’s tired, which Diego guesses he probably is, what with being sick and all. “Hm?” 

“When we got to the past, I never looked for you even though I should have. I should have looked for all of you but instead I got distracted by JFK and got myself locked up as soon as I got there.” Klaus looks at him like he’s crazy and Diego would huff if he weren’t getting more and more emotional by the second. It seems Klaus notices his quickly deteriorating mood, too-green eyes widening as he rushes to do damage control for something that _isn’t even his fault, not really._

“Hey now, don’t go blaming yourself for not being able to find anyone! Man, you were in a _mental institution_ , there wasn’t anything you could’ve done.” He pauses. “And, either way, I wasn’t even in Dallas when you arrived, I’m pretty sure.” 

Diego raises an eyebrow. “The hell do you mean you weren’t in Dallas? We all landed in the alley!”

“Uh, my cult?” Klaus says slowly, like talking to a child. He yelps as Diego taps him on the back of the head, it wasn’t even that hard of a hit but he makes a show of rubbing his head anyway. “Ow! Damn it!” When it’s obvious Diego isn’t going to apologise, he drops the act with a petulant huff. “We went everywhere, man! I wasn’t even in the US half of the time, you wouldn’t have found me even if you tried.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, ‘oh’.” They go quiet again, listening to each other’s breathing - one more nasally than the other. 

“I’m still sorry.” He continues on before Klaus can try and talk him out of his guilt. “That you had to be alone. I know you had Ben and stuff but-” _But you didn’t have me and you got on just fine but that doesn’t stop me from feeling like shit for it._ “I know it probably wasn’t the same as having your living family there. Not that there’s something wrong with, like, Ben- Him being a ghost doesn’t mean he’s not-” Klaus’ hand is over his mouth, clammy and cold from fever sweats. He’s pursed his lips, amusement clear as day on his face.

“I know what you mean, Di.” He says. “Stop getting all in your head, we both know there’s not much in there, don’t want you getting lonely in there.” 

“F’ck yew!” His voice comes out muffled thanks to the fact his brother’s hand is still clamping down on his jaw, nowhere near strong enough to keep it closed but enough to limit the movement of his lips. He’d lick his palm or bite him but the sweat makes him decide not to. Instead, he reaches up a hand of his own and wraps it around a too-thin wrist to pry it off of him. Klaus lets him and drops his hand back to his chest.

“As I was saying,” His brother continues on. “It was a-okay! No level of sibling interaction I was used to.” Diego’s chest aches. The words are spoken with an air of nonchalance, meant to be reassuring even though they are anything but. Still, Diego won’t fault Klaus for doing his best with what he’s got. None of them are all that good at comfort, anyway.

“I’m sorry for that, too.” He offers. “You shoudn’t be used to it, man.”

Klaus sighs, dramatic and like he’s far-away, “Number four out of seven, the ultimate middle child, ignored by all.” He cracks his eyes open with a grin, looking up at him with a small tilt of his head. “‘Cept for you, of course.” He hums, eyes sliding closed again and relaxing into him once more. 

Diego squeezes him gently, eyes staring at the ceiling as Klaus dozes like a cat in a window. “Yeah,” He murmurs. “Except for me.”

* * *

When Grace finds them both dozing together, she decides not to wake them. Placing the fresh water down on the desk, she looks at them both for a few moments, watching the rise and fall of their chests, in sync. 

She trails a gentle hand down Diego’s cheek, knuckles running softly over stubble and lightly-scarred skin before she carefully checks the temperature of her other son. Her eyes widen fractionally as she sees his temperature has lowered. It’s still not optimal, but it’s a start.

She stands upright, hands primly straightening out any crinkles in her skirt, before heading to the door again. She stands on the threshold for a moment, her hand on the doorknob, looks at her boys curled up on the bed. For a moment, an image flashes behind her eyes; two children, tangled together in a mess of limbs, searching for safety in each other’s arms while the rest of the world sleeps and she feels a warmth in her chest that she still isn’t completely accustomed to feeling.

She closes the door with a gentle click and the boys do not stir.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> klaus: i WILL accidentally enable your saviour-complex and superiority complex towards our relationship  
> literally everybody sans diego: don’t do that,,,
> 
> klaus had 1 healthy relationship and it (literally) died in the war
> 
> kudos + comments always appreciated! <3


End file.
